And
Victor Boullet & Brian Kennon

Hi, this is Victor Boullet writing, I just want to inform you that “Stupid Pope” is the title for my little cluster of paintings that are being shown along side Brian Kennon’s work at CASTLE in LA, but more importantly, this is a two-person show titled And.

St Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 13th May 1981, Mehmet Ali Ağca tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II.

Over hundreds of years Popes and painters have walked across this square creating the history of painting and subsequently the highly criticized art economy that still abounds.

I see this assassination attempt, almost 45 years ago, as part of this culture of painting and their markets.

Mr Ağca was born in a small Turkish town in 1958. Before his failed assassination attempt on the Pope, he had already assassinated a journalist, and he supposedly traveled to England to kill the King, but upon arrival he discovered that the King was a Queen, and said “we Turks don’t shoot women”. There is no proof of him ever having visited England.

To this day it’s not clear why Mr Ağca tried to assassinate the Pope, but there are plenty of conspiracy theories, none of which are of any interest to me or my work.

As a child I remember seeing the news about the assassination, not understanding the full concept of course, but I recall that is was serious. Today I am looking at this act as subject matter, or a wishful in. By in, I simply mean a possibility to continue as a painter. I see myself as a spectator snorkelling on the inside of this spectacle, but sucking air from the outside in order to survive as a painter.

What unfolded on St Peter’s Square, I choose to see as an aesthetic created by Mr Ağca ethics. A chaotic, very visual, mass movement of people that lasted a few seconds, and captured by photography. All this is understandable, but what about the days leading up to 13th May, 1981. That is the time where his ethics were mulled over and developed into the action that became the aesthetic that was documented.

But the days prior to this tragic event are not captured on camera, so those days must contain a dormant, or a hidden aesthetic. This is bothering me, and will my annoying thought about this clandestine aesthetic at some point create visual debris, or matter that can become an odds-on in?

Idea. Time. Action. Responsibility; but not Stupidity which has today become a trend. I’m now of course talking about painting, or more generously, art today.

For Brian’s work, you’ll need to read between the lines. But you’ll need to write those lines first, because he won’t.

So on that note, and for Brian, I’ll mention this little story about a lovely painter named Lorenzo Lotto, born c. 1480. His work failed at an auction in 1550 and after that he lost his livelihood as a painter, which most probably ended his life because he died penniless in 1556.

Warm regards,

Victor Boullet

Brian Kennon ed.

Victor Boullet (b. 1969, Oslo, Norway) lives and works in London, UK & Oslo, Norway. Recent solo exhibitions include Punt e Mes, The Artist Room, London (2024); Dundee Marmalade, The Artist Room, London (2024); btw, George died and Paul is Pregnant, Galleri Christian Torp, Oslo (2024); John Cazale, Borgenheim Rosenhoff, Oslo (2024); LETZTE RELIGIÖSE ARBEIT, Centralbanken, Oslo (2023); WERCCH.WERCCH.LIVERPUUL.DRAWING., Lubov, New York City (2023); and WERKK.WERKK.LIVERPOOL.PAINTING., Lubov, New York City (2023). Recent group exhibitions include Manden med det store smil, co-curated with Galleri Christian Torp, Oslo (2024); Los Simpson, curated by Borgenhein Rosenhoff, Haugar kunstmuseum (2024); Tokyo Book Fair, curated by Elise By Olsen, Tokyo (2023); and Homotopy Type Theory, curated by Eric Schmid, Centralbanken, Oslo (2023).

From 2009-2011, Boullet founded and ran The Institute of Social Hypocrisy in Paris, which hosted exhibitions including The Obituary Phenomenon, Ernst Beyeler – Dag Erik Elgin; Social Aesthetics - Merlin Carpenter; and Artist Pension Trust - Chris Sharp, Jason Hwang & Société Réaliste. From 1999-2024, he ran Frenetic Happiness, a Social Publishing House for printed matter, and was the editor of the book “The Sound of Downloading Makes me want to Upload.” Boullet has received numerous grants including Ingrid Lindbäck Langaards Stiftelse (2025, 2022, 2020); Statens Arbeidsstipend work grants (2024, 2023, 2021); and Billedkunstneres Vederlagsfonds work grants (2020, 2019, 2018). His work is represented in several private and public collections internationally.